page: 16
 title: Tool: Open Your Mouth And Say "Ugh"
author: Chuck Crisafulli

"Say you're walking down the street,  and you see some ugly old man 
digging through a garbage can,"  offers guitarist Adam Jones of Tool. 
 "He's totally repulsive,  and maybe his ass is hanging out of his 
pants.  You think 'ugh,' but you can't stop looking.  You're riveted. 
 That's the kind of connection we try to make with our music."

Tool evoke that cherished "ugh" response with their first full-length 
record, Undertow[Zoo].  Jones,  singer Maynard James Keenan,  bassist 
Paul D'Amour,  and drummer Danny Carey combine snaking rhythms,  
startling dynamics,  creepy-crunchy monster riffs,  and tormented 
vocal lines into a sound that's both disturbing and invigorating.  
Jones powers tunes like "Crawl Away" and "Flood" with chopped chords, 
chiseled,  off kilter figures,  and lead lines that are more sonics 
than solos.

"I'm not a great player,"  admits Jones, "but I'm really into my 
sounds.  I'm married to a Gibson Les Paul Custom with Seymour Duncan 
pickups,  and it has everything to do with the sound I get.  I play 
through a '76 Marshall non-master-volume bass amp.  When I play hard I 
get my crunch,  but without adjusting my volume I can pick softly and 
get a clean sound."

But Jones says he sometimes relies on less classic gear.  "On 
'Intolerance' I used an Epilady shaver and a vibrator against the 
strings.  An Epilady is even better than an E-Bow-it makes great 
sounds when you push it against the pickups.  And on 'Disgustipated' 
I went nuts-we had four different phasers on my guitar,  all at 
different speeds,  plus delay and three distortion boxes.  It was 
wild."

Jones suspects that Undertow may scare away some of the fans Tool won 
with their first EP, Opiate.  "Everyone thought we were a hard metal 
band," he says, "but our tastes run through Joni Mitchell,  King 
Crimson,  Depeche Mode,  and country.  We're not a metal band,  a 
grunge band,  a rock band,  or a country band.  We're Tool."
Posted to t.d.n: 08/14/99 20:47:18